East Lancs Asda stores to get lifesaving heart machines

SUPERMARKETS will be kitted out with lifesaving cardiac machines for shoppers and staff to use in emergencies.

Six Asda stores in East Lancashire are set to be presented with a public access defibrillator and will train store colleagues in CPR in the coming weeks.

Asda has joined forces with the British Heart Foundation to place the defibrillators in its Burnley, Blackburn, Darwen, Rawtenstall, Accrington and Colne stores.

The public access defibrillators can be used by any shopper to deliver an electric shock to the heart when someone is having a cardiac arrest.

Kate Main, from Asda's community team, said: “We’re really proud of our relationship with the BHF and want the people in East Lancs communities to have the best chance of survival if cardiac arrest strikes.

"It can take a number of minutes for an ambulance to reach one of our stores in response to an emergency like a cardiac arrest.”

Amit Aggarwal, head of fundraising at the British Heart Foundation, added: “This really could mean the difference between life and death for someone having a cardiac arrest while doing something as ordinary as shopping.”